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15 November 2012

15th November,
Thursday

Government

Man who posed as real estate
salesman charged in court

Source: Channelnewsasia

A 59-year-old man who posed as a real
estate salesman was charged in court on Wednesday.

Lum Chap Heng was not registered with
the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), but he allegedly presented himself to
potential clients as "Roy" or "Ron Lim", an "associate
manager" with HSR International Realtors.

Between June and July last year, Lum
allegedly posted flyers carrying his mobile number on the walls and notice
boards of HDB blocks in the Jurong West area, advertising for landlords and
tenants.

Lum also allegedly represented a flat
owner to find potential tenants for her property, negotiated property
transactions directly, as well as conducted flat viewings.

CEA said Lum was not registered with
it and did not have a written agreement with HSR to carry out estate agency
work for them.

If found guilty, Lum can be fined up
to S$25,000 or jailed for up to 12 months on each charge.

The HDB resale market has shown signs
of stabilising, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in Parliament Wednesday.

He cited latest figures that showed
how the annual Resale Price Index (RPI) growth had fallen from 14.1 per cent in
2010, to 10.7 per cent last year and to 3.9 per cent in the first nine months
of 2012.

"We have implemented a number of
measures but they will take some time to work their way through the market. For
example, the huge supply of new housing units will be available only over the
next 2-3 years," said Mr Khaw.

The Housing and Development Board
(HDB) is in the midst of reviewing Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) limits for
rental flats to take into account the demand from various ethnic groups, said
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan Wednesday.

Mr Khaw said about 60 per cent of the
HDB's public rental blocks have reached the limit allowed for Malay households,
which is 25 per cent.

The EIP limits are reviewed from time
to time to reflect Singapore's demographic changes, he added.

While rental flat applications are
assessed and approved on "a strict needs basis", applicants may
prefer locations which are nearer to their workplace or their children's
schools.

3,000 applicants fail to complete
purchase of HDB flats in last 2 years

Source: Channelnewsasia

Seven per cent or about 3,000
applicants failed to complete the purchase of their new Housing and Development
Board (HDB) flats after successfully selecting one in the last two years.

There were 43,000 bookings for new
HDB flats in 2010 and 2011.

The Ministry of National Development
said there were three main reasons for this.

The reasons include financial
difficulties following a job loss, break-up in a family relationship and a
change in preference for location.

Those who fail to complete the
purchase after signing the lease agreement will forfeit five per cent of the
purchase price of the flat. They will also be debarred for one year from
participating in HDB sales exercises, or receiving housing grants for purchase
of a resale flat.

Khazanah Nasional and Temasek
Holdings Wednesday unveiled details of their second development project
together.

DUO, as the project has been named,
will comprise two towers of residential, retail, hotel and Grade A office space
in Bugis, and be directly connected to the Bugis MRT station.

It will have a gross floor area (GFA)
of 1.8 million sq ft, and a development value exceeding $3 billion.

Nearly half its GFA - 45 per cent or
810,000 sq ft - will be dedicated to residential space; the 660 units will
occupy a 50-storey tower. Offices, retail outlets and a 300-room, five-star
hotel will be in the other tower, which will stand 39 storeys tall. The hotel
will take up 15 per cent of the GFA, or 270,000 sq ft. The remaining 40 per
cent or 720,000 sq ft will be given over to offices and shops, with the offices
taking the bulk of that space.

M+S, the 60:40 joint venture vehicle
between Khazanah and Temasek that is behind the project, said it aims to
complete the development in the second quarter of 2017.

A fully owned unit of Oxley Holdings
has exercised an option to buy a property known as 71/73/73A Oxley Rise for
$130 million.

The property has a freehold land area
of about 25,630 sq ft. On site is an existing two-storey building being used by
the Manasseh Meyer International School. The prime District 9 property is sold
by the trustees of The Sir Manasseh Meyer Synagogue and School Trust.

The price works out to about $1,453
per sq ft per plot ratio inclusive of an estimated development charge of $26
million, assuming the site is redeveloped into a 60:40 residential:commercial
project.

Under Master Plan 2008, the site is
zoned for commercial and residential use with a 4.2+ plot ratio (ratio of
maximum gross floor area to land area). A new project of up to 10 storeys and a
maximum gross floor area of 107,646 sq ft can be built on the site. A
commercial quantum of up to 40 per cent of the maximum gross floor area is
permitted.

The property being sold is across the
road from the Chesed-El Synagogue and slightly 300-plus metres from the Dhoby
Ghaut MRT Stations (on the North-South, Northeast and Circle lines).